Vartija (Finnish: Guardian) is a quarterly theological magazine based in Helsinki, Finland.[1] It was a print publication between 1888 and 2017 and became an online-only periodical in 2017.[2] The magazine is not attached to any church in Finland[3] and supports both conservatism and radicalism since its establishment.[2]
Vartija was founded in 1888 by a group of young priests who had left the Finnish Lutheran Church, including Elis Bergroth, Karl August Hildén and Aleksander Auvinen.[4] The founding editor was Elis Bergroth who served in the post from 1888 to 1906, and he was succeeded by Lauri Ingman.[4] One of the topics covered in the magazine between 1888 and 1910 was the Finnish-Americanecclesiastical conditions.[4]
In 1907 Vartija published many articles about the relationship between early Christianity and communism and socialism.[5] In 1911 and 1913 Antti J. Pulkkinen and Aukusti Oravala published articles in the magazine on the work by Danish philosopher and theologian Søren Kierkegaard.[1] Antti Filemon Puukko, a scholar of Old Testament Exegetics, harshly criticized the 1910 book, Hedendom och Kristendom (Swedish: Paganism and Christianity), by Rafael Karsten in the magazine in 1912 arguing that it devalued the meaning and significance of the Bible.[6]
During World War IIVartija became a church discussion forum[3] and also, featured articles on family issues and the welfare state.[7] Psychiatrist Martti Siirala and his theologist brother Aarne Siirala were among the frequent contributors of the magazine in the 1950s.[8] In 1965 Vicar Mauno Mäkinen published an article in the magazine suggesting that Finnish Christians should read the work by Richard W. Solberg.[9]
Irja Askola was the first female editor-in-chief of Vartija who appointed to the post in 1982 along with Simo Knuuttila.[2] As of 2018 the editors-in-chief were Matti Myllykoski and Mikko Ketola.[2] The magazine publishes articles on a wide variety of topics such as religion, theology, philosophy, psychology, culture and society.[2]
↑ Simo Muir (2009). "Anti-Semitism in the Finnish Academe: rejection of Israel-Jakob Schur's PhD dissertation at the University of Helsinki (1937) and Åbo Akademi University (1938)". Scandinavian Journal of History. 34 (2): 144–145. doi:10.1080/03468750902860468.